Chinese officials are calling for a crackdown on the dumping of medicines by drug manufacturers engaged in price wars. "The practice should be banned,' said a spokesperson for the State Economic and Trade Commission.

The root of the problem lies in the current price war caused by a nation-wide overproduction of medicines by domestic manufacturers, he said. Huge differences in production costs across the country means that drug manufacturers are competing on unequal terms and a number of firms are resorting to dumping excess drugs. The price war must stop as it will end up hurting majo-rity of the industry, the spokesperson said. He asked companies to adhere to the unified prices set by the state for certain medicines. "It is wrong to sell these medicines at either lower or higher prices than those set by the state,' he said.